The greatest thing about DUNGEON SENSE as far as Duke was concerned, at least right now, was that he could see in three dimensions. This allowed him to see where the tunnels connected to lower levels and easily plan a route there. Had he not spent years as a fighter pilot operating in a largely three-dimensional manner, things would have been harder to comprehend. That was one thing that he learned as a pilot and reinforced in anyone he trained – most people operate in two-dimensions despite living in three. It was a skill that was invaluable for pilots .
Setting out on his path, he decided that walking in the dark was a great time to practice his Stealth Skill. He snuck down the tunnel in the opposite direction Larkin had indicated as that was the path to the lower levels. What really struck Duke was the extent of the tunnel system – it seemed to span the entire city. His first thought upon entering the tunnels was that it was some sort of sewer system but two things changed his mind on that stance. One, it didn’t smell like a sewer system and two, everything seemed to be dumped in the streets above and pretty much stayed there until it was picked up.
In his journey to the lower tunnels, Duke passed little moving aside from an occasional rat, some rather large. They all seemed to ignore him, so he did the same for them. He was actually surprised that he didn’t see more than he had in his journey. I’m in their habitat so leave them be. They come into my house, different story. Duke mused on his “outside stuff vs inside stuff” philosophy. Finally, he came to a ladder leading down to the level that had all the movement on it. He climbed down, maintaining Stealth as best he could.
This new level of tunnels seemed older than the previous ones and not so much constructed as being a natural cave-system that was modified. Duke took note as he stealthily made his way down the passage to where he had seen the movement in his DUNGEON SENSE. There were many more side passages on this level of sizes from less than a meter tall to ones large enough to easily fit three carts wide. Still, he could easily map out his path and ignored all alternate paths.
He followed the caverns until he came to a larger, sunken chamber that he knew was occupied. Slowly, he crept to the edge of the passage and down into the chamber. What he saw was not exactly what he expected. There were hundreds of thin humanoid creatures shuffling in the chamber. Duke IDENTIFIED one to get an idea of what he was dealing with.
*** You have encountered a zombie. This is a basic undead creature with no independent will. It is naturally aggressive and will attack most non-undead creatures as soon as it becomes aware of them.
Level: 22
Health: 122
Mana: 0
Your Ability has exceeded this creature’s resistance. You also discover that this creature is susceptible to fire and resistant to bludgeoning attacks. ***
Well, that’s interesting. Extra data never hurts. Seems like these zombies are custom-made for someone with a flaming sword. That’s not me, but with less than 200 Health I could cough a hole in it. Duke considered his options and decided to try one thing before continuing his scouting. He activated RESTORE figuring that the 20-meter or so radius would be enough to catch some of the zombies in range. The Ability activated and he felt a slight tug as a tear in his pantleg repaired itself. Below, the clothing of a dozen zombies repaired itself, revealing a number of burial shrouds. What did not happen, however, was any material change to the zombies. They remained shuffling around as they were.
Well, fuck me. There goes the easy route. Not sure why it’s not working here. Must be some sort of dungeon thing. Not wanting to reveal himself just yet, Duke decided to continue his scouting mission on the surface. He TELEPORTED into an alley that he was familiar with, one he visited the first time he came to the city.
The alley was relatively dark but there was still enough light by which to see filtering in from the connecting streets where lights burned warmly. Close to the center of the alley, there was a group of men huddled around a keg placed on top of a beat-up barrel. Duke smiled as his Stealth still seemed to hold when none of the men turned towards him. He began to turn to leave when a familiar face flashed into view at the keg.
Duke stopped and turned back to the group, his face taking on a cold smile as he approached them. “Whatcha got on tap?” Duke asked.
Six pairs of eyes turned towards Duke and he recognized four pairs of them, the other two being unfamiliar. The leader spoke up, “Just a bit o’ ale. Have ya come to me here alley to buy you a cup? It’d just be six gold since it’s the good stuff.” This elicited a chuckle from the group as they started to step away from the keg and spread out.
Duke fixed the two unfamiliar men with stares. “You two may leave. The rest of you are not leaving this alley. Ever.”
“Oh lookie here, boys. We gots ourselves a talker. Come on big fella, just give us yer coins and we’ll set you on yer way.”
Duke looked at the group closing in on him and smiled ferally. “You had your chance. I’d tell you to remember this moment, but you won’t.”
In a flash of movement, Duke’s tonfas were in his hands and he had struck the first two thugs down. The next two barely had time to register that Duke had moved before they too were on the cobblestones. The final two were a bit faster and one managed to start his swing before Duke struck him down as well. The final man, the leader had a look of surprised recognition on his face that made Duke hold back his strike.
“It’s you! From the arena.” The leader realized, gawking.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Yes, it’s me. And you are done here. You thought yourself to be the alpha predator, but you are nothing.” Duke replied, extending his tonfa with a flick of his wrist, shattering both the leader’s arm held up in defense and the skull it failed to defend. Duke made sure the other five had perished as well. Tonight was not the night for mercy, not for the oppressors, thugs, and criminals. And certainly not for those who put him in the arena. Duke TELEPORTED up to a nearby roof and faded into the night.
He made his way TELEPORTING from roof to roof as he watched the city from above. It was not long before he started spotting guards out and about on patrol. They were in groups of three and seemed very well equipped. All had a sword belted on their waist and some sort of polearm that they walked with. Their chainmail all looked well-serviced, and their tabards seemed clean from what Duke could see. He watched as a pair of patrols came together. They stopped and spoke with each other for a few minutes before heading out in their own ways. Seems pretty normal and benign. What am I missing?
He continued to watch as the night crawled along, frequently changing his position, trying different vantage points to see something different. Eventually, he found himself close to the King’s castle. The guards there were even more vigilant and certainly more numerous. They varied their patrol speed and even the watches were oddly staggered in changing. Duke continued to watch for a few hours before moving elsewhere within the city.
Duke continued his own patrol, watching the night crews scrape the streets clean of all the day’s detritus and the various groups of guards moving through the city. It was late in the night when he finally saw something noteworthy. He spotted a group of guards that were different. It took Duke a bit to figure out what it was that struck him as different but once he did, it was hard to miss. They moved differently than any of the other guards Duke had been observing. They seemed to glide over the ground without any of the typical rise and fall of a normal gait. Duke TELEPORTED to a closer roof to get a better look at them and activated IDENTIFY.
*** You have encountered a vampire. This is a Tier 2 creature.
Level: 53
Health: 1,796
Mana: 2,023
***
Duke followed and watched this group closely for several minutes. At one point, he got a bit too close, and they seemed to be alerted to his presence somehow, looking around themselves. But they never looked up and missed Duke. He continued to follow the vampires as they made their way across the city. They never met nor interacted with other patrols as they moved into the poorer sections of the city. There, they changed their pattern and entered an apartment building. Duke switched to DUNGEON SENSE to follow what they were doing.
There was a family in the apartment they entered, and Duke immediately got a bad feeling about what was happening. The vampires had quickly and quietly roused every member of the family and had them gathered in the main room of the apartment. None of the family members had done more than get out of bed and follow the vampires there. When the vampires each grabbed a family member and set to feed, Duke acted. He TELEPORTED into the room and interrupted.
“I’m going have to ask you to stop right there. There will be no feeding off the innocent tonight.”
The startled looks on the vampires faces raised Duke’s mood significantly. The lead vampire asked, “Who are you?”
“I’m Bat-“ Duke paused, mid-delivery as the vampires poured on their hypnotic power. “Did you really think that was going to work? Really? Wow, I thought Tier two undead would be smarter than that. Let’s take this little talk elsewhere.” Duke pulsed his Ability and TELEPORTED the vampires and himself to a small park Duke had seen earlier that night.
All five of the vampires hissed at Duke, baring their fangs and flexing their fearsome auras. Duke was not impressed. He shook his head and tried something he hoped would work. He had been able to disarm others with a TELEPORTATION before as long as he could overcome their resistance. This time was no different, if a bit harder. With a flex of Duke’s will and Ability, five sets of fangs rested in his hand.
The vampires went berserk. They howled together as if their world had been torn asunder and launched themselves at Duke. Their hands extended into black claws dripping with some unknown substance and headed straight for him. They were fast, faster than Duke expected, and he had to react immediately. He dodged backwards from the slashing and grabbing claws, instinctually taking flight for an added burst of speed.
Claws caught only empty air as Duke dodged backwards and upwards. He was only mildly surprised when the vampires launched into the air in pursuit. Duke pulled the fangs into his INVENTORY in exchange for his tonfa and began to meet claw with enchanted bone. Were it a one-on-one fight, it would have ended very quickly, with five of them attacking, Duke had to forgo many openings to prevent himself from being hit. He was confident that whatever poison or other substance dripping from the vampires’ claws wouldn’t kill him, but he wasn’t sure if it would slow him down or otherwise distract him, so he made sure they never landed a slash.
It took a full thirty seconds of fighting before Duke’s COMBAT SENSE kicked in, allowing him to continue to fight while taking a more objective perspective. With his new perspective, he could see that the vampires moved in a cohesive whole, each complimenting the others’ moves to keep the pressure on Duke. They seemed surprised that this human was able to fight them at all, let alone fight them all to a standstill. He smiled as his combat plan solidified in his mind.
Duke allowed the vampires to press him harder and harder, coming closer and closer to landing a slash of claws as he subtly moved the fight higher and higher over the city. He could see their confidence growing as they wore down the flying human.
“Stop your futile struggling. It is only a matter of time before you have tasted the blood. And then we will make you one of us. You will live forever. Join us and be part of the true master race!”
Duke responded, “Whatever you say, toothless. I’m not going to buy a ticket for that train ride.”
The vampires pressed harder, confident that they were on the verge of victory. All it would take is a single slash of claws to land and they could inject their blood into this human – and he would be theirs. Faster and faster they swirled around Duke, slashing and now even trying to bite him with their newly regrown fangs. Duke continued to bide his time, dodging and blocking their attacks. Their increased speed was starting to press him, so he decided it was time to go on the offensive.
Duke TELEPORTED back down to the park to give him a moment of breathing room and focused on the descending vampires. Moments later all five vampires hit the ground. Four of them slammed in uncontrolled and headless, Duke’s TELEPORTATION attack having been successful. The last landed in front of Duke in shock as he saw the four heads of his companions at Duke’s feet. Duke shot forward and slammed the vampire to the ground, twisting it so that it landed face-first.
“Now, you and I are going to have a conversation. You know some things and when we are done, I will know them as well.” Duke poured all his Psyche into his words, hoping it would be enough to persuade the vampire to talk.